108 



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How manj' clip their queens' Avings ? 

 Seven said that they practiced it. ISIrs. 

 Woodard said that bj- clipping- the 

 queens' wings she could hive her own 

 bees, and take care of them herself. 



The convention then adjourned until 

 Wednesday morning. 



SECOI«» DAY. 



The Wednesday morning session 

 was called to order at 9:45 o'clock, 

 with President Highbarger in the chair. 



When should the bees be placed 

 in the cellar for winter^'' The fact 

 was developed that the members had 

 placed their bees in the cellar from 

 Oct. 25 until Christmas. Some of the 

 members thought that their bees win- 

 tered better when placed in the cellar 

 earlier, and disturbed them less. 



UnfiuiiiiUea Sections. 



How do you prevent having a large 

 number of vuifinished sections in the 

 fall? 



Dr. Miller takes the unfinished sec- 

 tions from the weaker, and places 

 them on the stronger colonies. 



Mr. Whittlesey takes away the com- 

 pleted sections, places the unfinished 

 ones in one row, and fills the empty 

 space of the super with pieces of board 

 cut to fit it. 



Dr. Miller also said that he did not 

 think it advisable to tier up too high, 

 as the bees would commence in all of 

 them ; but if doubtfnl as to their need- 

 ing more room, he would place the 

 last super on top, instead of under the 

 others. 



The next order of business was the 

 election of officers for the ensuing 

 year, and resulted as follows : Leroy 

 Highbarger, of Leaf River, President ; 

 A. J. Sweezey, of Guilford, Vice-Presi- 

 ident ; O. J. Cummings, of Guilford, 

 Treasurer ; and D. A. Fuller, of Cherry 

 Valley, Secretary. The convention re- 

 turned a vote of thanks to the Super- 

 visor of Winnebago county, for the 

 free use of the Court Room. 



It was decided to hold the next 

 meeting on May 21, 1889, at the resi- 

 dence of H. W. Lee, of Pecatonica, 

 Ills. ; on Aug. 20, 1889, at the resi- 

 dence of Russel Marsh, of Guilford, 

 Ills. ; and the annual at Rockford, 

 Ills., on Dec. 16 and 17, 1889. 



On motion, annual dues of the mem- 

 bers was made 2.3 cents per year. 

 The convention then adjourned. 

 D. A. Fuller, Sec. 



COXVEKTION DIRECTORY. 



1889. Time and Place oj Meeting. 



May 1, 2.— Texas State, at Greenville, Tex. 



li. A. Wilson, Sec, McKinney, Tex. 



May 4.— Susquehanna County, at Montrose, Pa. 



H. M. Beeley, Sec, Harford, Pa. 



>Iav 21.— Northern Illinois, at Pecatonica. Ul. 



D. A. Fuller, Sec, Cherry Valley. Ills. 



B^* In order to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetings.— BD. 





ISees Yl'interins Spleii<li«lly.— L. 



D. Cheasbro, Conway, Iowa, on Feb. 2, 1889, 



writes : 



Bees are wuitering the best I ever sav? 

 them. Last spring I had B colonies, in- 

 creased them to 2i, and obtained BOO pounds 

 of first class comb honey in one-pound sec- 

 tions. I sold it liere at 15 cents per pound. 

 We had no honey-flow until September. 

 White clover and basswood was a failure. 

 My bees are all taking a ffijiht to-day. I ex- 

 amined all of them, and 1 find more honey 

 in the hives to-day than I ever saw before at 

 this time of the year. It has been so warm 

 this winter that I have not put them into 

 the cave, but left them on the summer 

 stands. 



sittina!-room of my house, where the fire 

 never goes out in the winter-time. The cel- 

 lar is 16x34 feet, outside measure, and 7 

 feet deep in the clear, ventilated by a 7-inch 

 thimble in the stove-flue, which commences 

 on the cellar bottom. The cellar is very 

 dry. A room is partitioned off large enough 

 to hold the bees, and a sond thermometer is 

 hung up against the partition 'Which regis- 

 ters as low as 32° tor several days at a time, 

 thouiih vegetables do not freeze. My bees 

 are the most quiet at between 33° and 40=. I 

 had mv 48 colonies all prepared to put into 

 thecellar'last fall, when ray wife was taken 

 sick, and so very nervous that we liad to 

 walk on tiptoe, and talk in a whisper. She 

 lias been sick nearly t"n weeks, but is a 

 little better now ; consequently the bees are 

 on the summer stands not very well pro- 

 tected, and 1 fear that some of them have 

 not enough stores for out-door wintering. 1 

 label every package of honey, and sell it in 

 tlie home "market. 



Sen«l Us tlie I>'»incs of bee-keepers 

 in your neighborhood who should take and 

 read the American Bee Jouhnai., and we 

 will send them a sample copy. In this way 

 we may obtain many regular subscribers, 

 for thousands have never seen a copy, or 

 even know of its existence. This is one 

 way to help the cause along. 



Proper ^Virttliol Hives.— G. Kelly, 

 Kalamazoo, Mich., on Feb. 1, 1889, writes : 



1. What is the proper width for a hive to 

 contain 8 brood frames ? 2. Is i?^ of an 

 inch enough space between the bottom of 

 the frames and bottom-boards ? 



[1. A hive to contain 8 brood-frames 

 sliould be 13 inches wide, inside. 3. The 

 space at the bottom of the frames should be 

 not less than one-half inch.— Ed.] 



ProtluciiiK Coml> Honey.— D. W. 



Dougherty, Springwater, N. Y., on Jan. 21, 



1889, says : 



I appreciate the efforts of the editor of 

 the Bee Journal for the cause of bee- 

 keeping. We cannot work successfully 

 without the press, one of whose most hon- 

 orable members is the Ajiekican Bee 

 Journal. The season of 1888 in this part 

 of the country was a poor one, owing mostly 

 to dry weather. I had a small increase, and 

 but little honey from my apiary, i work 

 entirely for comb honey, the tiering-up 

 method being practiced. 



Uees are Qiilef — Mild Winter. — 



E. W. Councilman, Newark, N. Y., on Jan. 

 29, 1889, writes : 



I have 76 colonies of bees in the cellar, 

 seemingly in good oimdition, but, like all 

 the rest, last fall my bees did not do well, 

 as I got only 1,000 pounds of surplus honey 

 from the whole business, and not enough 

 increase to make up for previous spring 

 losses. The winter has been very mild, and 

 bees have seemed remarkably quiet in their 

 winter quarters, and thus far but two quarts 

 of dead bees have been swept up from the 

 cellar-bottom, seemingly but a tithing of 

 previous yeais, up to this date ; so by this I 

 think that the prospect is excellent for colo- 

 nies to come through the winter in a strong 

 condition. 



A Oellglitfiil Cliniale.— Mr. John 

 Boerstler, Vashon, Wash. Ter., on Jan. 38, 

 1889, says : 



We have had spring weather all this win- 

 ter, and not any snow or ice. We have been 

 plowing all along from Christmas up to this 

 time, and are making garden right along. 

 This is the best climate that I ever saw— it 

 is nearly like California. Peaches are al- 

 ready budding, and flowers are in bloom all 

 winter. I am looking for 1,000 emigrants 

 from the East in the spring. I cannot see 

 how they can help coming out West, with 

 the climate we have here. Bees are all right 

 yet. They are flying every few days, and 

 the prospects are good for fruit this year. 



i^iiccesstiil Cellai- Wiutei-ins-.- 



A. J. Duncan, Ilartford, Iowa, on Feb. 1, 



18S9, writes : 



The past two years have been the poorest 

 for honey that I have experienced since I 

 liave been keeping bees. Last year I took 

 30 pounds of honey per colony, spring count, 

 some of it being comb honey, but mostly 

 extracted. In 1887 I took 35 pounds per col- 

 ony, but in ISSO i took 150 pounds per col- 

 ony, spring count, but I had full combs 

 below and above to hive the swarms on. I 

 never extract from the homestead. I have 

 wintered my bees very successfully for tlie 

 last several winters in a cellar under the 



^Yild Bees.— O. C. Becker, East Sagi- 

 naw, Mich., on Feb. 4, 1889, writes : 



During July and August, I take my sum- 

 mer vacation on the Shore of Lake Huron, 

 where there are wild bees. I have caught 

 them, and put them into a box with honey, 

 when they would fill tliemseltes, leave, and 

 not return. Does any one know of anything 

 that they (the bees) will work on, when 

 there are flowers in bloom ? I concluded 

 that nothing cnuld be done in finding bee- 

 trees until after the frosts came. 



Mee-Cellars- ]\ew System.- R. S. 



Becktell, Three Oaks, Micli., on Feb. 4, 1889, 



writes : 



The season of 1888 was the poorest that I 

 have seen here in mv 17 years' experience 

 with bees. 1 generally g.'t 20 to 100 pounds 

 of comb honey per colony, but last season I 

 got nothing from 200 colonies. The most of 

 the colonies obtained enough honey for 

 winter, but I will have to feed some in 

 April. I have 175 colonies of bees in the 



